President Trump's former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to the F.B.I. about conversations with the Russian ambassador last December during the presidential transition, bringing the special counsel's investigation into the president's inner circle.
Mr. Flynn, who appeared in federal court in Washington, acknowledged that he was cooperating with the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, into Russian interference in the 2016 election. His plea agreement suggests that Mr. Flynn provided information to prosecutors, which may help advance the inquiry.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/01/us/politics/michael-flynn-guilty-russia-investigation.html
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Arik on Saturday December 02 2017, @07:07PM (11 children)
The reportage might well leave the reader thinking that he's confessed to doing something naughty with the Russians, reinforcing the hysterical 'russiagate' memes, but if you actually read the relevant document (http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/4317997/Flynn-charging-document.txt) you'll find nothing of the kind.
He's charged with failing to be completely truthful to the FBI when asked about two specific conversations in late December, 2016. In the first, he asked a Russian envoy to aid the US effort to delay or defeat that UN SC vote condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. In the second, he asked the Russians not to retaliate against sanctions the outgoing administration had imposed.
Failing to find anything wrong with what someone did normally leads to closing out the investigation or dropping the charges. But when it's a political prosecution, it leads instead to prosecutors going over every word of every transcript looking to make a new charge instead. Obviously that's what's happened to Flynn.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Saturday December 02 2017, @08:44PM (2 children)
you don't see what's going on.
oh well. maybe read up more.
this is a stepping stone. just watch how it all unfolds, over time. mueller is not in a huge rush, and this seems to be 'a thing', in the parlance of our times...
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 02 2017, @09:58PM (1 child)
Christ on crutches, give it a rest, mate.
I think you made your point 50 or 60 posts ago.
You're boring.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 02 2017, @10:44PM
GUYS, MATCH ME! BERNIE CAN STILL WIN!
(Score: 3, Informative) by NotSanguine on Saturday December 02 2017, @10:15PM (7 children)
That's the charge to which he pled guilty as part of a plea agreement. Absent the plea agreement, he was facing charges for multiple felonies with potential prison time measured in decades.
Oh wise Arik, please tell me where the above is incorrect.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by Arik on Saturday December 02 2017, @10:31PM (6 children)
I'm looking at the court filings. You're looking at what, exactly? Your crystal ball of delusion?
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 3, Informative) by NotSanguine on Saturday December 02 2017, @10:53PM (5 children)
It's pretty obvious that Flynn received a preferential deal in exchange for a guilty plea and assisting the investigation.
Flynn *could* have been charged with (among other things) failure to register as a foreign agent (Turkey) and a variety of other felonies related his assistance to foreign governments' attempts to influence US policy.
Of course the plea agreement and criminal complaint won't include felonies for which he isn't being charged. If they were, he'd need to be charged with those crimes as well.
If you want to ignore the variety of stuff that's in the public record (I'm not going to do your work for you), that's up to you.
As such, when Federal prosecutors call (or threaten to call) Flynn to give testimony incriminating others higher up the food chain, go ahead and self-flagellate for being deliberately obtuse.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by Arik on Saturday December 02 2017, @11:07PM (4 children)
So you say, but I disagree.
Again, I'm looking at sworn court filings and drawing my conclusions based on that evidence.
"If you want to ignore the variety of stuff that's in the public record (I'm not going to do your work for you), that's up to you."
I did the work, I linked the primary source, and you reply by doubling down on your assertions *without showing any evidence, or even any sign you're familiar with any evidence.*
You're just a child playing 'I'm rubber and you're glue' only you know larger words to use.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Saturday December 02 2017, @11:18PM
Kissy Kissy, sweetheart.
Let's see what the future brings. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? [youtube.com] Robert Mueller knows.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Saturday December 02 2017, @11:41PM (2 children)
Here's a cogent analysis of the situation [lawfareblog.com].
Pooh pooh at it all you like, but The Shadow [wikipedia.org] knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men.
And rather than using your brain, your (assuming you're a good man, which is, at least to me, an open question) lack of thought helps evil to triumph. As such, history has something to say to you [quoteinvestigator.com]:
Do you read the bible, Arik? [youtube.com]
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by Arik on Sunday December 03 2017, @12:02AM (1 child)
It's certainly more cogent than what you've posted prior to this, but if alarm bells didn't go off in your head reading this then you need repairs.
"The surprising thing about the plea agreement and the stipulated facts underlying it is how narrow they are. "
Yes, your source acknowledges just what I pointed out, and calls it 'surprising.'
"There’s no whiff of the alleged Fethullah Gulen kidnapping talks. Flynn has escaped FARA and influence-peddling charges. And he has been allowed to plead to a single count of lying to the FBI. The factual stipulation is also narrow. It involves lies to the FBI on two broad matters and lies on Flynn’s belated FARA filings on another issue. If a tenth of the allegations against Flynn are true and provable, he has gotten a very good deal from Mueller."
If a tenth of the allegations were true and provable he certainly wouldn't have accepted this, that's true. And this would cause any reasonable, non-partisan observer to consider the possibility that the allegations were a pile of horseshit from start to end. Which is, as you say, 'pretty obvious' if you bother to investigate them individually.
But that's not what he does, no. After acknowledging several indications that this was a political prosecution with a severe lack of evidence, your source proceeds to wave it all away on the basis of a string of rather dubious assumptions for which he, like you, doesn't seem to be able to find any evidence.
But hey, at least he made an effort.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2, Informative) by NotSanguine on Sunday December 03 2017, @12:29AM
You go, boy (and I do emphasize the word 'boy')!
Continue to be deliberately obtuse, and we'll see how this plays out.
As things play out, perhaps for once in your life you'll re-evaluate, rather than sticking your head even deeper up your ass.
I'd direct you to peruse my sig, but even that doesn't apply to you as there seems to be no logic, just the urge to defend your "tribe."
My tribe is humanity and to a lesser extent, Americans. And we deserve better than the wonderful gift [amazon.com][NSFW] your "tribe" is offering.
Full stop. Have a wonderful day!
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr